Bangkok (TDI): Thailand and Cambodia exchanged fire along their disputed border for the second time, today, resulting in displacement of more than 100,000 people, and dozens have been reported killed since yesterday.
Tensions between both countries were fueled for months over disputed sections of their 500-mile (800-kilometer) land border, demarcated partly by Cambodia’s former colonial ruler, France, and which runs near several archaeologically important religious sites that both countries claim.
The Deputy Spokesperson for the Thai Army, Col. Richa Sooksuwanon, told media that clashes broke out when Cambodia started firing by using small arms and heavy weapons, to which the Thai Army responded with artillery fire.
According to the Thai Army, the clashes broke out at two different locations, one in Ubon Ratchathani province and the other in Surin province.
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It is also being reported that the Thai army has warned public from going to the areas where clashes are ongoing, as heavy weapons and rocket fire are being fired from Cambodia, and also warned about the forces carrying out bomb disposal operations and recovering bodies from the Kantharalak district that was hit by Cambodia on Thursday.
According to Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health, due to the current clashes, so far 14 people have died, all of them were civilians. In Cambodia, one person has been killed and 5 wounded. According to Met Measpheakdey, a spokesperson from Oddar Meanchey province, the situation is “still heated”.
“The exchange of fighting… is still happening,” he said. Cambodian officials have also accused the Thai Army of using cluster munitions at two sites on Friday. More than 4000 people who live near the border have been displaced from their homes.
The tensions have been increasing since May, when a Cambodian soldier was killed during a clash in the area of Emerald Triangle, when both Thai and Cambodian troops opened fire at each other.
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